1. Field
The following description relates to a cleaning apparatus and a dust collecting method using the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, examples of cleaning apparatuses include domestic or industrial cleaners, robot cleaners, sweepers for cleaning of offices, factories or roads, and the like. These cleaning apparatuses may include a brush to sweep a floor, or a suction unit to suction dust or dirt.
In one example, a robot cleaner having an automatic traveling function is adapted to remove contaminants, such as dust, etc., from a floor while traveling about a cleaning area without user manipulation. The robot cleaner includes a drive device to cause the robot cleaner to travel about a cleaning area under control, and a cleaning device to remove dust, etc., under control. In addition, the robot cleaner includes a dust collecting unit to store the dust, etc. collected from the cleaning area during traveling of the robot cleaner
The robot cleaner may sweep dust, etc. into the dust collecting unit using a brush. After suctioning and filtering the dust, etc. together with air using a suction fan and a filter, the robot cleaner may continuously perform a cleaning operation while collecting the dust in the dust collecting unit and exhausting the air.
However, since the robot cleaner has a limited size, performances of the fan and filter may be changed according to installation positions thereof, and this may have an effect on cleaning performance of the robot cleaner. If the fan breaks down due to contaminants trapped therein or the filter is clogged by the contaminants, the fan or the filter may malfunction, causing deterioration in cleaning performance of the robot cleaner.
Although the robot cleaner as a kind of cleaning apparatus has been described by way of example, various domestic and industrial cleaning apparatuses in addition to the robot cleaner have been sought to realize lower power consumption and higher cleaning performance.